The Theatre of Terror’s faithful followers are taking part in our Director’s Game right now. If you aren’t, I suggest you dive in. It’s a great way to have some spooky challenging fun, and learn some of the cool backstory for our theme. But I want to take a break from that for a moment and tell you why our haunt is really haunted. No…not marketing haunted. There truly is something quite wrong at the Fremont Centre Theatre.

Most people are smart enough to know that stories Haunted House operators tell you about their attraction being “really haunted” are nothing more than clever marketing. The idea is that if the audience truly thinks they are in a spooked place, they lose that sense of safety that you have if you are in Grandma’s kitchen. But that is not what’s happening here.

The Fremont used to be a mortuary – in fact, the theater portion used to be the “Viewing Room” for funeral events. There are sketchy details on when the mortuary closed and was reopened as a theater…nobody we have talked to on the staff seems to know exactly when. Or, quite possibly, they just aren’t willingly giving us the answers. There is a distinct feeling that the employees at the Fremont don’t want the wrong kind of attention at their family friendly building. They put on wonderful performances for the community year-round and the general consensus is that ghost hunters and other fans of the occult would cause damage to the historic landmark.

However, certain members of the staff are more than happy to speak about their experiences under anonymity. One staff member recounted the evening (about dusk) that she encountered something very odd. As the tenant approached the back door of the building, she noticed a sickly looking old man standing alone near the side wall. He simply stood watching the tenant – long stringy grey hair, a beard, darkened skin – saying nothing. The man wore clothing that seemed out of place, as if he were from the early 1900’s.

The tenant called out to him, “Hi there, can I help you find something?” The old man looked straight at her and replied,“You know, this place is haunted.” The tenant felt strangely uncomfortable, but pleasantly replied, “Well, that is what some people have told me, but I’ve never seen or heard anything.”

The man turned and started walking away. The tenant began to enter the building, but found her curiosity piqued. She rounded the corner to see where the man was going. Only, there was no man there. In a matter of five seconds, the man had disappeared from no more than ten feet away. There was nothing blocking her line of sight, just an open field and an intersection. He had simply vanished, leaving the tenant with a chill so strong, that she couldn’t stand to stay any longer.

Now, being a life-long haunt developer, I’ve seen my fair share of strange events. I don’t think much of them – usually attributing them to nerves or the spooky work atmosphere. So I recently went into a night of promotional filming for the Theatre of Terror with nothing but excitement and eagerness to make a great video for all of you. I left that night around 1am after hearing seriously disturbing noises, having the wind knocked out of me, and seeing what appeared to be a young boy standing in the back of a dressing room.

Many haunts claim to have paranormal activity within their walls. Never in my life did I expect to be able to level with my audience about real occurrences that I can still picture; burnt into the back of my mind most likely for life. That story, however, is for another update. Stay tuned, and we hope to see you all when the Theatre of Terror opens! It sounds cheesy, but who knows…you may just see something “quite wrong” at the Fremont Centre Theatre during your visit.